Thurgood Marshall's law clerk, trailblazing female solicitor general and dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan likely will be the first justice in 40 years to join the U.S. Supreme Court without having worn "the dress" in an official capacity before joining the highest court in the land.
Read More »The rocky balance of the practice of law
Last week the Rolling Stones reissued an album that was recorded while I was swimming in my mother's belly on my way to Kansas City and the life I've known.
Read More »Seeking redemption after a ruling goes awry
Disappointment is something lawyers get used to. Not that living with it constantly is anything we must face, but being disappointed by a ruling of the court here and there is the nature of the beast. Or the “Number of ...
Read More »Lawyers can counter angelic image of victims
The year was 1990. While I was planning my first year of many to come in college, a man named Pervis Tyrone Payne was moving through the appeals process in Tennessee after having been convicted of the brutal murders of a mother and her 2-year-old child.
Read More »Client species: Defining who you represent
Call them the crazies, call them one of “those” clients, but whether you practice criminal law, civil litigation, or are a domestic guru, you get to deal with them. Actually, maybe all clients fall into the crazy category at some ...
Read More »Growing up as a man and a lawyer
My wife has been telling me lately that she finally feels like a grown up. I laugh a little. I wonder why, now, she is feeling this way as we are just a few steps from the next floor on ...
Read More »300 public defenders talk arson and inspiration
Last week I had the pleasure of spending three days in Branson with more than 300 public defenders from across the state as we attended various continuing legal education programs. It’s a great opportunity for us PDs to get together ...
Read More »Prosecutors have final say over plea decisions
Victims’ rights don’t mean victims are always right. I fully realize and, for the most part, support that the victims’ rights regime in Missouri is a necessary and vital part of our legal system even if a relatively new part ...
Read More »Westboro case forays into complex First Amendment issues
The United States’ No. 1 enemy is God. We are all doomed because we put the antichrist Barack Obama in the White House. If you live within 100 miles of where Hurricane Katrina hit, you should not ever show your ...
Read More »Poor taste allowed in good friends’ NCAA trash talk
Next Sunday the NCAA basketball committee will pick the 65 teams who will begin this year’s College Basketball Championship Tournament. The road to the Final Four, March Madness, and the other copyrighted phrases that will be splattered all over advertisements ...
Read More »Keep space program on line for Mars landing in 20 years
“How do I get to space, Daddy?” “Study. Math, science, physics, chemistry, all that stuff is real important if you want to be an astronaut, buddy.” “What about space? Should I learn about space?” “Of course, but all that other ...
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